She was a petite woman with hair that looked like burning embers, which was fitting for her powers. Because Kim was a woman, and like most female supers, she had two powers.
Her first was well known—she had wrathful immortality. She could recover from any damage, and all of that damage made her stronger. Her second power was pyrokinesis.
Together, she could become a raging bonfire while healing all damage. That kind of power had made her the number two hero in the world before she hung up her cape and took on a coordination role, founding the BSH.
Now, at nearly sixty years old, she only looked twenty-five. Her immortality apparently worked effectively against aging as well.
"Uh, excuse me? I was looking for Candice's office. The secretary was already out for the day." The Director of the Bureau of Superheroes spoke from the doorway.
Kim squinted at me for a moment before she shook it off, dismissing something.
She shouldn't be able to place me with what had happened back then.
I had been a kid back when she would have seen me, and now I didn't look my ripe age of forty-six. I looked more like I was in my late twenties.
"Yeah. I think I'm in the same meeting. Let me show you the way." Closing my laptop mid-email, I promised myself that I'd finish it up on Monday.
"That would be great. So, you are the mastermind behind all the marketing?" She gave me a big smile with the compliment.
"Hah. My team did a great job on this one. But I think any mastermind title would have to go to Point City's very own Wrath." I made a grand gesture towards her.
Her tight navy-blue pantsuit failed to subdue her flame-red hair. In it, she didn't look a bit like the hero. "Oh god, it's been years since I put on that suit."
"I was a big fan of yours as a kid, even if you'd already hung up the cape." I tried to help cement that I wasn't old enough to be the kid from that awful day.
The last thing I wanted was for her to place how she knew me.
For years, I had hidden from every hero, and now I was going to be caged in an office with the one that had the best shot of recognizing me.
"Now I can do more good. I wish the BSH had been around when I was wearing a cape."
Gesturing to Candice's office at the end of the hall, I let Kim enter first.
"Candice. Wonderful to see you. Sorry for the late meeting. I'm kept far too busy." Kim stepped right into the room and sat down. "Let's see this thing."
Candice looked at me suddenly, as if I was supposed to carry the presentation.
Luckily, I could spin up a presentation in the blink of an eye. "So, per the specs you sent over, we ran an analysis over a wide demographic in the city.
Candice, I sent you the presentation and the video. Could you pull it up for us?"
The older lady hunted and pecked at the keyboard to search in a way that drove me nuts, but I continued on, keeping Kim's attention.
"We tried a number of mockups, and in the end, everyone responded best to a woman giving the message. Apparently, old stereotypes still fit."
"That's why we loaned you Miss Point City." Kim nodded along with me. "Look, I trust you guys did your research. Why not just show me the finished product, and we agree that you took the right route?"
Damn, if she wasn't tied to some of my most traumatic memories, I think I could have liked her.
"Sure, hit it, Candice."
The ad started playing, and I grabbed Candice's monitor, twisting it around for Kim.
Kim nodded along politely with it until it came to an end. Then she gave us a few claps of appreciation. "That looks great."
"Thanks. We knew it would be a hit." Candice soaked up the praise despite having very little to do with the end product, and even trying to shut it down earlier that day.
And it didn't escape my notice that her voice trickled with just a hint of her ability.
I hated her superpower. She had subtle hypnotic elements she put in her voice to make people compliant. Sensing what she'd done, I did what I always did and dismissed the power in her words before they reached me.
Nobody was able to sense that I could dissipate it like that.
It was part of my ability that would definitely get me locked up in some concrete, lightless cell, given the threat it posed.
"Very good.
I see why we keep coming back to this firm for all the work. I almost want to get a man and share him after that," Kim said.
"If you'd send that over to me, I'll make sure it gets to the right people. Do you also have the other cities ready?"
"Unfortunately, those are still under production," I cut in. "The original timeline was for the original scope.
We'll have to cut in regional superheroes for the other variants, and it will take maybe six weeks for all eight of them."
"Oh. That works." Kim shrugged, not caring in the slightest for the delay.
I gave Candice a look, pointing out that all it took was a bit of communication.
"We'll need to shoot with each of the regional heroes in about four weeks." I figured I might as well make the ask now.
Kim nodded, not surprised. "Give me a list, and I'll have them fly in when you need them."
"Wonderful! Kim, I'm so glad you could make time to swing by and see the finished product." Candice beamed.
Kim shrugged. "I'm kind of old school. I like to talk in person."
She laughed to herself. "Thanks for meeting, and thank you, Zayn, for letting me put a face to the name."